The present invention relates to a reactor and methods for performing single and in-situ multiple integrated circuit processing steps, including thermal CVD, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), and film etchback. The present invention also relates to processes for forming conformal, planar dielectric layers on integrated circuit wafers. In particular, the present invention also relates to dry process sequences for self-cleaning the reactor in-situ without dis-assembling the reactor or using time-consuming, potentially hazardous wet chemical cleaning.
The reactor described herein and in the parent Wang et al application is adapted for processing very small geometry devices which are very susceptible to even small amounts of very small particulates. Although this reactor operates at relatively higher pressure than conventional reactors, it creates long-lived species which may still deposit in the exhaust system and in downstream exhaust system components to the throttle valve. Thus, although the operation of the present reactor is cleaner than conventional reactors and although cleaning can be done less frequently, it is very desirable to be able to clean the reactor chamber and the vacuum system to prevent contamination of particulate-sensitive small geometry devices and to ensure long-term operation of components such as the throttle valve.